


February Ritual

by Alessgrosskid (thatonegrosskid)



Series: Shamelessly Pagan [1]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Gen, Paganism, Protective Siblings, Rituals, Sibling Bonding, but its only like a line, hellenic paganism, mentions of homophobia/homophobic violence, mentions of transphobia, rated t for cursing, spoilers: molly loves artemis to pieces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23989114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonegrosskid/pseuds/Alessgrosskid
Summary: She likes to trail after Mandy, reveling in having a big sister to teach her all the things her mom never did, how to defend herself and get people to do what she wants, it's really cool. Mandy also teaches her about secret stuff, things she has to be careful talking about, especially around Terry. Things about the world,  about magic. Things about the gods.[Molly is happy to have a family, especially when they let her take part in their monthly ritual.][Her first ritual, two spiritual dreams and a daring escape!]
Relationships: molly milkovich & mandy milkovich, very background gallavich
Series: Shamelessly Pagan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729795
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	February Ritual

Once Molly knows that she has siblings she can come to when she needs help (or a friend), she starts hanging around the Milkovich house more often. Never when Terry is there, not if she can help it, but she feels good having family around that cares about her and won’t ditch her to get high or leave her to fend for herself for days on end. 

She likes to trail after Mandy, reveling in having a big sister to teach her all the things her mom never did, how to defend herself and get people to do what she wants, it's really cool. Mandy also teaches her about secret stuff, things she has to be careful talking about, especially around Terry. Things about the world, about magic. Things about the gods. 

Mandy teaches her to thank Hestia before and after rituals, because she's the oldest and the youngest and she's always there for them. She teaches her which gods like which offerings and what is left on alters, poured over rocks, eaten or put right into the ground. She tells her that the gods will listen, that they care and are there, even if she can't give them wine and honey and that good shit the Greeks could get, that sometimes some dollar store olive oil, beer and rice is good enough. That the gods understand when they need to keep all the food they can get.

Molly loves to learn about the gods, they sound so much better than the god her neighbors mutter about or that the people who come to their door try to sell her on. She feels drawn to them somehow, especially the goddesses. She soaks in everything she can about them, her siblings teaching her as much as they know and even going online to learn even more, even though she isn’t a fan of reading. Molly thinks she likes Artemis best, she’s strong and doesn’t take other peoples shit and she chooses what she wants to do and helps other women to do the same. She’s the kind of lady Molly wants to be when she gets older.

She says this to Mandy and she tells her to set aside a portion of her next meal (which turned out to be macaroni and bagel bites) for her as a way to say hi. She did and she felt good about it, though she still ate the other portion after the rest was finished (she was polite about it though, so she didn’t think Artemis would mind.)

That night, she dreams she’s under the L by the Milkovich house, leaning against a support and eating an apple, watching headlights in the dark of the night, the moon big and bright above her. She feels happy. 

In February, they let her come with them for their monthly ritual for the first time. There were days to worship certain gods and holidays and festivals that they could celebrate, but they had things to do and appearances to keep and it wasn’t ancient times anymore where you could get off work to spend the day eating and dancing for Apollo. So, they had a monthly ritual, a day set aside at the end of the month for them to stay at home together, messing around and arguing and grounding and cleansing themselves from the miasma that liked to build up around them, knowing that their siblings that couldn’t be there were doing the same. 

At night, they make sure Terry won't be home until late, if at all, and make their way out in the closest to ritual clothes that they own, clean hoodies that they kept in the bottoms of their drawers the rest of the month and any pair of pants they had clean. Molly made sure to bring her favorite jacket when she came over, helped clean up the house and ate pop tarts for lunch and followed Iggy’s lead to ground herself and when the sun was set, she helped them carry their things out under the L, their tools and offerings and food. She stood with Mandy, Mickey and Iggy under the moon, two upturned trash cans acting as their altar and holding their things, 2 candles lit, lighting their faces. 

Mandy starts, calling out in words Molly doesn't really know how to pronounce, words her mother taught her, washing her hands and sprinkling the altar with Khernips, asking the space be cleansed. As she calls out, reaching up to the sky, her voice seems to ring through the area and around Molly, it makes her feel like the world is shaking.

Mandy takes up some of the offerings they'd brought and gives thanks and offerings to Hestia, asks her to see and take her gifts as thanks for keeping their family together, making the best of a broken house into a home and being there for them always. She gives offerings to Persephone and Hades, thanks them for looking over them and the family they've lost, puts their offerings into the ground. Iggy gives to Ares, thanks him for his strength and helping them to survive to fight another day, raising his gifts to the sky, even though they were under the L. Mickey gives offerings to Dionysus, thanking him for good weed, booze and something else that he said too quiet for her to hear.

When it’s her turn, she holds up her offerings, looking to the sky. She thought for a long time on what to say, longer trying to memorize it, and when she opened her mouth, she wasn’t sure what took over her when she spoke. She called on Artemis to hear her, to take her gifts as thanks for protecting her, for watching over her and all young girls, for keeping them wild and uncontrollable and free. As she speaks, she feels her nervousness disappear, can hear her own voice ring in her ears. 

She places down her offerings and Mandy steps up to give offerings to Hestia once again, thanking her for all she’d done. When the offerings are all given, Iggy steps up to pick up a metal bowl on the altar, filling it with wine and mixing honey in until he’s satisfied. He holds it over the alter between them for a moment before putting the bowl to his mouth and taking a mouthful, drinking it down before passing it to Mickey. Mickey takes a swig and swirls the bowl around to mix it more, telling Iggy he can’t stir for shit, but he passes it to Mandy afterwards. 

Mandy takes it, takes her drink, and passes it to Molly, making sure to support the bottom so she doesn’t drop the deceptively heavy bowl. She takes a small sip of the libations, wincing at the taste (even honeyed, wine doesn’t taste good to most 12 year old palates), then a bigger one before she lowers the bowl. Mandy helps her hold on to the bowl as she tips it forward, pouring the rest of the wine into the ground for the gods. When the bowl is empty, save a few pale streaks of honey that didn’t get mixed in, Molly puts it back onto their altar and stands with her siblings. 

Mandy calls out, first in what she thinks must be Greek, then in English. She tells them to rejoice, knowing the gods are with them. Beside them, Iggy takes his phone out and starts playing music, the sound echoing around them. Mandy goes to grab from the food on the altar, some from home, and some fast food that either she or Mickey had gotten Ian to bring so they wouldn't have to leave the house. She smiles down at her, swaying to the music, and hands her a McDonalds cup, passing the rest out between them. They drink and eat and dance (the others get beers along with their sodas), not caring how loud they were or who heard them. 

Molly’s stomach was full, her heart racing from jumping and dancing, throat warm from singing to the music and her face might hurt a little from smiling so much. She sat down to finish her soda and catch her breath, leaning against a beam to watch the others dance around the altar.  She didn’t know when she started to feel tired.  Her eyes fluttered as her head lulled and without noticing, she fell asleep. 

Her eyes open for a moment, she’s alone under the L. The lights of the city are off, the only way she can see around her is by the light of the moon, tinting the whole world silvery blue. She stands, walking out onto the road to look around herself. She’s not scared, she feels calm, watched over. She lays down on the gravel and curls up, closing her eyes to sleep.

When Molly wakes up, she’s tucked into Mandy’s bed, buried under thin blankets. She feels surprisingly awake and rested, a feeling she doesn't get often without a nap. As she picks herself up, she realizes it's already the afternoon and she’s not wearing her jacket anymore. She gets up off the bed, fixes her hair the best she can, and quietly unlocks the door, walking out into the living room. 

She can hear noise coming from the kitchen, but the first thing she sees is Iggy on the couch, dead asleep. She can see grease around his mouth from hogging all the fries last night and his feet are almost black on the bottoms because he decided to go out barefoot. Molly goes over and picks up the leg he’s dangling off the couch, making him lie straight like she does for her mom sometimes. 

“I wouldn’t worry about him too much,” She jumps a little when she hears Mandy’s voice. She turns and she’s standing in the entrance to the kitchen, Mickey standing behind her. She looks kind of tired, but she’s smiling holding out a plate of eggs. “I’ve seen Iggy fall asleep in trees and wake up like he slept over at the Ritz.”

She takes the plate with a thanks and goes to stand with Mickey by the counter and he passes her a can of soda. He cracks his own open along with her and tips a bit out into the sink before drinking, nodding when she does the same. 

They eat standing up, Mandy hissing at them to sit down like normal people when she sits to eat at the table. They don't say much, eating their food and listening to cars go by and dogs bark outside. When Iggy gets up, he eats his share of eggs out of the pan and goes outside to smoke, snatching the soda from her hand on his way out. 

"Hey!" She moved to follow him but Mickey pulled her back by her shirt.

"Don't start shit, just means you get to take Iggy's fuckin' drink later." He shrugged, "beside, you've gotta get your shit together."

"I thought I could stay the weekend?" Molly frowned, feeling her good mood take a hit.

"Yeah, we thought you could, but we've got work to do." Mandy patted her back, “Got some calls before you woke up, we’re gonna be hauling ass all weekend and it’s not the kind of thing you wanna be in the middle of.”

"But...I'm a Milkovich too." She looked between Mickey and Mandy.

"Yeah, that's nothing to be fucking proud of," Mickey looked at her, sitting down at the table, "I'm sure you could totally make bank doing dirty work like the rest of us but I think we'd all prefer you didn't have to. And if you're here when there's work to do, you have to." 

Mandy looked at her, smiling just a little, "Molly, you're cool and we love having you around, but we keep you away from Terry for a reason." 

"Broke my wrist once 'cus 'talking too much about another guy was queer,'" Mickey sneered, "You bring up the fact you've got a dick, it's on all of our asses."

Molly frowned but nodded. They'd had this conversation before, but it never got any less unfair. If she had a penis, Terry would hurt her. If she didn't, Terry would hurt her. It was better for everyone if she just avoided Terry at all costs. She thought that all of this would be a lot easier if Terry was just out of the picture all together.

Mickey huffed into his can, side eying Mandy. "'Sides, you're cute. You've got options, unlike  _ some  _ B cups in the room."

"Oh fuck OFF, bitch." Mandy punched him in the arm, hissing at him as they fussed at each other, Mickey backing off with a middle finger when Mandy threatened to bite him. 

Molly couldn't help giggling into her hand, her mood lightening. She saw siblings argue and play fight on TV, but actually seeing them in real life was amazing _. _ She didn't get to talk with Mickey much the first time she came over, but now he was her favorite brother. She couldn't wait to meet Jamie, Joey and Colin. 

She didn't want to go home. She wasn't any good at making friends and hanging around the apartment made her feel trapped, especially when her mom was freaking out. Still, she knew that her siblings were only looking out for her, trying to give her the lesser of two evils or whatever. She said as much, though she was still a little upset, and finished the last scrapes of her breakfast. 

Molly stood, tossing her paper plate, and ducked into the living room to gather her things. She didn't end up staying the weekend, so most of her clothes were still in her backpack, but she'd left her charger somewhere and couldn't find it. She was scrounging around the living room, checking under and behind the couch, when the door swung open. 

She flattened herself against the floor, hiding the best she could behind the couch. She heard the scrape of chairs in the kitchen and someone call for Iggy to get his ass inside, the front door slamming behind them. Well fuck. 

She stayed quiet and still, listening to people come into the Milkovich house and set up at the kitchen table, a gruff voice telling them all to get to fucking work already. She waited for a long time, listening to them work and snark at each other and crack open beer cans, before she slowly picked herself up just enough to see into the kitchen. 

Mandy was sitting next to a man she didn't know and a girl around her age, looking down at whatever it was they were working on. Her eyes flicked around the table every so often, snapping up to Molly for just a second before going back down. She leans in to the girl next to her and says something, gesturing out to the living room with her eyes. The girl takes a second, looking directly at her for a moment and nods. They both continue what they were doing without saying anything, leaving Molly to stay hidden in the living room as best as she can. 

After a few minutes, she hears someone get up. She leans up to look and the girl is coming towards the living room. She ducks down and picks up Molly's backpack without showing the people in the kitchen, mumbling that she has to take a piss. She tosses the bag into Mandy's room with a wink and disappears into the bathroom like nothing happened. 

She's in there for a long time, long enough for Terry to ask what the hold up is and send Mandy in to get her back out. Mandy stands, looking right at her and tilting her head to her room, and stands in the entrance way to the kitchen, calling out "Sandy! You didn't fucking _die_ in there did you?" 

With Mandy blocking the entrance, Molly scutters as quickly and quietly as she can into her room, feeling like she can finally breathe. She zips up her bag and slings it over her shoulder, ready to run out barefoot as soon as she gets the chance. 

"Screw off, Mands, I'm a little busy!"

Mandy and Sandy are arguing back and forth from across the short hallway, making enough noise that nobody hears her open the bedroom window and get ready to climb out (being lady like doesn't mean shit if she gets in trouble). She's got her leg hanging out the window when she hears, "I  _ remember  _ you stole my  _ jacket  _ last time you were here-"

She turns to the bed and sees her favorite jacket hanging off it, nearly forgotten in her rush. She pulls herself inside and scrambles to grab it before finally ducking out the window, doing her best not to get it dirty. She thuds onto the ground beside the house and runs without looking back. She has to get home.

She walks home barefoot and happy, favorite jacket tucked into her backpack, pointedly ignoring any weirdos on the street. Leaving was more dramatic that she'd thought it would be, but it was scary and fun and she still enjoyed her stay. She couldn't wait for next month's ritual. If, on her way home, she noticed the dogs that usually jumped and barked at her were calm and quiet, she just smiled. 

Home was always going to suck, whether her mom was home or not, and the Milkovich house wasn't exactly perfect either. But she had someone now, a big sister, two big brothers, three more she still had to meet. She had the gods, watching over her, listening. She had Artemis. So no matter what, whether she had to climb out of windows to get out of illegal business or hide from her mom for a few hours, she had someone there for her. And that was pretty fucking cool.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh i started this months ago and was stuck at like 700 words forever then yesterday I just got everything out all at once? it was pretty fun, but sorry if the ending is a bit lackluster.  
> also dkfjvsd can you tell i have no idea how to write the milkoviches?  
> ah, if you find any mistakes, please tell me!


End file.
